LG Oled Comparison

[scottmog]

Like most of you (I'm assuming) I use mostly crts for my media.

I'm looking for some sort of comparison between the C1, C2 and C3. I'm just looking for a 42-48 inch screen. Mostly using it for dreamcast and newer type systems, a bit of PC and possibly retro content through a retrotink 5x.

My question is there a massive reason to go for the C3 or will the C1 / C2 handle stuff fine?

[tongshadow]

The C1 has better BFI implementation, pretty much.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K2tSrnxqVk
You cant go wrong with those 3, so just choose whichever you find at the best price.

[Guspaz]

Pick the C1 over the C2, and probably over the C3. It's not just the BFI implementation, newer LG OLEDs add an extra frame of lag for 4:3 signals, and the C1 does not.

If you start including newer and newer models, then the brightness advantages start mattering more and more, and brightness matters a lot when you start doing BFI and retro effects like scanlines and CRT mask effects. All of these effects work by turning *off* or dimming pixels, which can only reduce brightness.

However, are you sure that you even have a choice? The current model is the C5, you can still find the C4 on liquidation, but anything older is impossible to buy new. And getting a used OLED TV is risky.

[Josh128]

Pick the C1 over the C2, and probably over the C3. It's not just the BFI implementation, newer LG OLEDs add an extra frame of lag for 4:3 signals, and the C1 does not.

Does that matter if you use a scaler and just display your 4:3 content centered in a 16:9 frame?

[Konsolkongen]

Pick the C1 over the C2, and probably over the C3. It's not just the BFI implementation, newer LG OLEDs add an extra frame of lag for 4:3 signals, and the C1 does not.

Does that matter if you use a scaler and just display your 4:3 content centered in a 16:9 frame?

It does not

You can buy a Morph 4k for a reasonable price and just run everything through that. I do that on my C2.

[tongshadow]

Yea, the 4:3 lag isnt a factor anymore, every modern scaler outputs either 4k or 1440p widescreen.

[orange808]

FWIW, OP doesn't need a new scaler to avoid lag. The RT5X will be fine. An upgrade to a 4K upscaler (like the RT4K) is purely optional. LG panels handle 1080p well enough and the RT5X is still a pretty good package.

[tongshadow]

It's a nice kit, but he'll be blown away by true HDR, 4k masks and scaling of HD signals.

[Guspaz]

4:3 doesn't matter until you want do higher than 60 Hz. For example, DOS games are 70 Hz, and 4K70 is not possible on modern retro gaming scalers (pixel clock too high for HDMI 2.0). So you either drop the resolution down to 1440p and pillarbox it, or you send 4:3 4K (2880x2160) to keep the full resolution. Only, sending the 4:3 signal will add a frame of lag on the newer TVs.

It's probably not a big deal with 4K scalers for anything under 60 Hz.

But again, it's a moot point, the LG C1/C2/C3 are not available for sale, and used OLEDs are a bad idea.

[orange808]

4:3 doesn't matter until you want do higher than 60 Hz. For example, DOS games are 70 Hz, and 4K70 is not possible on modern retro gaming scalers (pixel clock too high for HDMI 2.0). So you either drop the resolution down to 1440p and pillarbox it, or you send 4:3 4K (2880x2160) to keep the full resolution. Only, sending the 4:3 signal will add a frame of lag on the newer TVs.

It's probably not a big deal with 4K scalers for anything under 60 Hz.

But again, it's a moot point, the LG C1/C2/C3 are not available for sale, and used OLEDs are a bad idea.

I'm curious. What kind of results are you seeing feeding native 480p?

I just send 960p of information boxed (underscan) in a 1080p signal. What little "blur" you get from upscaling 1080p is no big deal--and the result is still be sharper than what I have always seen on a real PC CRT monitor. I have a PC CRT monitor right here in fine condition (that's from end of the CRT era) and even this one isn't as sharp as feeding 1080p from the scaler to a new digital display.

And, if the display's 1080p to 4K scaling is blurry, I'm surprised the 480p to 4K is better. In my experience, scaling has always introduced more smoothing for lower resolution inputs...

Why do you prefer to feed the native 480p signal?

[Guspaz]

I don't follow, when did I ever say anything about 480p signals?

[orange808]

I don't follow, when did I ever say anything about 480p signals?

If memory serves, 70Hz was in the early VGA "Hercules" card era of DOS gaming--and I think a lot of those 70Hz games were actually EGA? By the time Voodoo blew up with SVGA options, most software was running 60Hz.

And, that's around the time we checked in on the Amiga version of games first to see if it's a good port, because PC CGA and EGA didn't have the same appeal--until VGA really got its footing.

[Guspaz]

DOS mode 13h was 256 colours at 320x200 at 70 Hz. It was a super common resolution, used for games like Doom, Quake, Warcraft, Command & Conquer, etc. I don't know why you'd want to feed that or 480p directly to the TV, so I don't understand what you're asking.

The best quality upscale you can do on modern retro gaming scalers will be to scale that to a 4:3 4K image, meaning a 2880x2160 image, which is the native resolution of your television for 4:3 content. This will also allow you the full quality for any CRT simulation you want to do with scanlines and masks. However, newer LG OLEDs will add a frame of lag for any 4:3 image like this. This isn't a problem if your scaler can pillarbox the signal to 3840x2160, but that's not possible at 70Hz, which so many DOS games output.

[orange808]

Oh. It's the 4K thing with the fake and wrong mask filter you want. The one with the grid that I could never see on a real PC CRT without actually pressing my forehead into the glass itself. Not even kidding about that. Is that a real simulation or did someone use a camera to see the pattern and blow that up huge on our big screens? Is that really an "accurate" reproduction of a PC CRT?

And, if you make it subtle enough that you have to put your nose to the OLED glass, is it really necessary, anyway? I couldn't see very much of the grill pattern on a PC CRT. Furthermore, the phosphor bloom remains unemulated, so it's still not right. The OLED can't get bright enough to do it.

It's a matter of taste, but I suggest OP should just use 1080p, ignore the filter for PC CRT content, and play the games.